Today we’d like to introduce you to Todd Irvine.
Todd, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My dad was a US Marine in World War II, and was part of the occupation force after the war was over. He started training in Aikido and Karate while he was in Japan, and he started teaching me when I was about 12 years old. But, he didn’t have the time to really train me properly because he started as a truck driver after he had retired from the Marines. So, I started training on a regular basis with Sensei Kevin Gurganus in Durham, NC over 30 years ago, and he still visits with us and trains when he visits here in Georgia.
I had taught Karate since I was in Durham, but after moving to Georgia, I only wanted to continue my own training. After looking around in the Gainesville area, I couldn’t find a traditional school (dojo). Most of the dojo in my area focused on teaching Karate as a sport, and I wanted to continue with a traditional dojo that focused all of its training on self defense.
After I had lived in Flowery Branch for a while, my children had gotten old enough to start training, too. Now, I wanted to both continue my training and I wanted my children to have the opportunity to learn Karate as well. But, since I wanted us to train in something that we could rely on if we ever had to defend ourselves, I decided to start teaching to the broader community.
I approached both the City of Gainesville and Hall County about offering classes through their respective Recreation Departments, and both had an interest. I ended up offering classes through both, and can now say that I’m the only traditional Karate dojo in both Gainesville and Flowery Branch.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I’ve definitely had struggles, and will likely continue to do so. First I teach part time, and have to balance my dojo with my full time employment. Since I teach History in my regular job, it benefits my teaching in the martial arts, but I still have to balance my time and commitments.
Then, I also have to manage my school as a business to some extent. Marketing has particularly challenged me. Working through government agencies limits some of the marketing that I’ve been able to do, and there are several other martial arts schools in the area. They tend to be much larger and have more resources to promote themselves than I do. But there a few people still want to hold to the traditional purpose and approach of teaching Karate, and I’ve tapped that niche.
Please tell us about Hall County Karate.
Again, Hall County Karate teaches the only traditional Japanese Karate classes in our cities, and this is the main thing that separates us from other schools in the area. Many people don’t really know what that means, though.
For most people, their exposure to the martial arts comes through movies and TV shows that they’ve seen. And, a lot of people want to learn to do what they’ve seen on the screen.
We focus on having our students be able to defend themselves, though. Instead of jump spinning kicks to the attacker’s head, my students learn to kick to the knee, for example. Originally, Karate was designed as street fighting, but many people have gotten away from that as they have emulated what is in the popular culture, or to have students move into tournament competition. Hall County Karate holds to the traditional emphasis on teaching a martial art, not a sport or showmanship.
Another thing that may set me apart from other martial arts schools is the fact that I don’t teach to make money. I say it may because I don’t know many of the other martial artists in the area, or their personal motivations. But, I can speak to mine.
Over time, I’ve learned much from Karate. It hasn’t just been about self defense, either. It has helped me to grow as a person and develop discipline, focus, patience, and has kept me fit. As I get older, I want to pass this to others. And, I also have a duty to Karate itself to help keep the traditions, practices and beliefs alive by passing them on to the next generation.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
One of my favorite memories comes from going off during the summers with my dad when he was driving. I had just turned seven a couple of months earlier.
I wanted to help unload his truck at one of his deliveries. On this time, he had a load of recliners, and I was barely able to move them, even though all we had to do was move them to the end of the trailer for the warehousemen to take them off. After a couple of times, my dad had me get out of the way. This bothered me a lot, and I became determined to move those recliners.
When he made his second stop the next day, I tried to push the recliners again, and this time I not only kept up with the adults, but out worked many of them. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I had learned an important lesson. It wasn’t my size or strength that made me fail the first day, it was my will. Soon, my dad let me work on the trailer almost every time we made a stop.
At one of those stops, he was standing at the end of the trailer with the warehouse manager and told him to watch while he moved one of the recliners just by ESP. He really freaked out the manager, because I was pushing the recliner and was too short to be seen.
Pricing:
- We offer very affordable classes, with monthly fees normally being $60 per month
Contact Info:
- Address: Flowery Branch:
Mulberry Creek Recreation Center
4490 JM Turk Road
Flowery Branch, GA 30542Gainesville:
Gainesville Civic Center
830 Green Street, NE
Gainesville, GA 30501 - Website: hallcountykarate.com
- Phone: (470) 310-0094
- Email: info@hallcountykarate.com
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/hallcountykarate
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/hall-county-karate-flowery-branch?osq=karate
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